A “Small World” Moment That Will Make You Smile All Day

My brother, John Rabe, posted this on his LA radio show's Facebook page. It's a "small world" story that came to me at just the right time. I'll explain after John's story. 

Off-Ramp
February 2 at 3:00pm ·

The most amazing thing just happened. Seriously amazing.

Last night we were having dinner with Dan Guerrero ¡LIVE!, the son of Lalo Guerrero, and creator of !Gaytino!

He and our friend Chris Murray were talking about their stage careers, and good and bad reviews.

Dan mentioned that back in the 1960s, he was in a traveling production of Carousel that came through Detroit. And the show got a review that singled him out, in particular because of his hair, which was big and floppy in those days. Dan said they even printed a drawing of me and my hair.

"Do you know who artist was?" I asked. "Because I might have known him. My parents knew everyone at the newspapers then." Dan responded, "I don't know who drew it, but I can send you a scan of the clipping tomorrow."

Dan sent the clipping a few minutes ago and I almost fell out of my chair.

Dan was right, it was a rave review, the kind members of the chorus dream about. Here's an excerpt:

"There are rare and treasured moments in the theatre when the finger of God beams its light on a humble member of the chorus. ... The young chorus boy in question? Dancer Danny Guerrero. He turned the great first act vocal and dance production number, Away We Go, into a masterpiece."

Dan was right, it's a great drawing of him, and yes, I did recognize the artist - Chuck Thurston, who signed his work "CT."

But I also recognized the reviewer's byline. The review -- which singles out "Danny" as "sprightly, and springing, and delightfully gay" (you got that right) -- was written by my father, W.T. Rabe.

Yes, 48 years ago, my dad not only saw my friend Dan Guerrero perform on stage (a very small coincidence; Dan was in a lot of shows), but he wrote pretty much a whole review about him. That's a cosmic coincidence.

The newspaper was the Detroit American, which I'd never heard of, but its archives are online and my dad has seven by-lined stories in the archive, but not, apparently, the review.

The photo below is from Dan's recent 75th birthday roast. That's my husband Julian, me, and Dan, now with shorter hair.

Now, what did I mean that it came as just the right time? My dad passed away in the early '90's, and John posted this as I was missing him something fierce. So a cool story, and a visit from my pop, too.